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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26843338">Whumptober 2020 - 05 - Leaving</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Celticgal1041/pseuds/Celticgal1041'>Celticgal1041</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Whumptober 2020 [5]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Magnum P.I. (TV 2018)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Whump, Whumptober 2020</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-20 09:42:26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,672</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26843338</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Celticgal1041/pseuds/Celticgal1041</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“No, no, no, no,” the voice beside him beseeched. “You’re not going anywhere.”</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Whumptober 2020 [5]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1949548</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>46</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Whumptober 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Whumptober 2020 - 05 - Leaving</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Thomas, it’s time to wake up.” It had been so long since he’d heard his mother’s voice, and it was exactly as sweet and melodic as he remembered. He could picture her smiling face as he listened to her speak, her brown eyes lighting up as much of the rest of her features when he’d done something to amuse her.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Thomas, you’ve been asleep long enough.” A rush of warmth enveloped him, followed by a rush of longing. He’d missed her so much, his heart breaking when he’d been told of her passing. Worse yet was the fact that he’d missed her funeral, and he’d never had the chance to tell her one last time how much she meant to him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>What? His thoughts shuddered and collided with the memory of his mother’s death, and yet he could hear her talking to him even now – couldn’t he?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He focused again on the words he was hearing, his brow furrowing when the tenor oddly deepened. “Thomas, come on already.” The speaker sounded mildly irritated, confusing Magnum’s muddled brain even more.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Don’t do this to me, man,” the voice pleaded, bringing Thomas slightly closer to awareness.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Something hard dragged across his sternum, and Magnum grunted at the uncomfortable sensation. ‘Go away’, he thought, hoping he’d said the words aloud but somehow certain that he hadn’t.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I have no idea what you think you’re doing, but this isn’t funny anymore,” the speaker stated, and this time Thomas could detect a definite hint of panic in the words. The emotion stirred something deep within him, some innate need to help and ease another’s suffering, and he struggled to clear the fog from his brain.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You’re just gonna be stubborn now, aren’t you?” The question was accompanied by a searing pain in his arm, and Magnum momentarily wondered if it had been ripped from his body. He keened lowly at the agony in his limb, unaware when his sounds of pain devolved into whimpers and then finally into quick, shallow pants.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Come on, Thomas, you’re stronger than this.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>‘Am I?’ he wondered. New sensations were registering now: a chill that seemed to begin in his core and spread outwards to his limbs, encasing him in an impenetrable block of ice; the smell of damp and decay that he associated with loneliness and despair; and the weight of the world having descended onto his body, making it impossible to move. He groaned miserably, the sound starting from deep inside his chest and then vibrating in his throat.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Tommy, please.” The speaker sounded completely devastated, the last word practically dripping with grief. It was an emotion he was far too familiar with.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He and grief had first been introduced when he’d been just a young boy and his father was a pilot. When he was home, his dad would regale him with stories of daring and wonder, making it sound like he was invincible, especially when he promised to always return. Thomas had believed his larger-than-life dad who’d never let him down during his short life. Never, that was, until his mother had broken the news that his father was gone and wouldn’t be coming back again.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>That evening, Thomas had remained strong and stoic for his mom, unwilling to add to her anguish. But later that night, once he’d been tucked into bed, he’d sobbed silently for hours over the loss of his hero, wrapped tightly around the baseball cap his father had given him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Open your eyes, damnit!” Anger was now mixed with worry, reminding him so much of his fallen brother.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>When Nuzo had died, a part of Thomas had died with him, his sorrow mixed with regret at having failed to protect the man. Despite all his efforts to track down the man’s killers, part of him had just wanted to run away and hide, ashamed that he’d let his brother down so completely. He, Rick, and TC had gotten epically drunk after their friend’s funeral, sprawled around the various pieces of furniture in Magnum’s living room. In the hours before dawn, once the other two men had passed out, Thomas sat for hours wishing he’d died instead of one of his best friends.  </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Tommy, don’t do this,” the words paused on a sob, the sound catching Thomas’ attention.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He’d been strong for others for so long, but now he was tired. He missed those he’d lost and ached to be reunited with them. His mother’s face appeared once more, soothing his pain, and warming his body, and he immediately felt a sense of comfort surrounding him. “Are you coming, sleepyhead?” She asked him with an amused expression on her face.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Coming mom,” he slurred, his features growing lax as he let go.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“No, no, no, no,” the voice beside him beseeched. “You’re not going anywhere.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The voice faded, and Thomas took his mother’s hand, a feeling of contentment encompassing him.</p><hr/>
<p>“That was way too close,” Rick said, fear still shining brightly in his eyes.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yeah, I know,” TC replied, his gaze fixed firmly on the still form in the hospital bed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It had been hours since Magnum had been airlifted off the side of the mountain trail where he and TC had planned to spend the day. Their hike had started out well enough until they crossed paths with a boar, who in turn had seemed to have eyes only for the former SEAL. After charging and injuring the man, the wild pig had been chased off by TC who’d thrown everything he could find at the animal until it got bored of his abuse.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>As luck would have it – or maybe it was only Thomas’ bad luck – the boar tusk had torn a hole in his arm, nicking the radial artery enough that his survival had been in doubt. The nearly twenty minutes TC had spent applying pressure and pleading with the man not to leave had rattled him more than he wanted to admit.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It’s good you were there with him,” Wright commented as he watched the steady rise and fall of Magnum’s chest while gripping the end of the hospital bed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I didn’t think it’d be enough,” Calvin replied, his voice unusually small for the broad-shouldered man.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Rick threw TC an odd look, a request for an explanation clear on his face. Calvin shrugged uncomfortably in the chair next to Magnum’s bed, already wishing he’d kept his mouth shut. When the silence stretched on between them, Rick prodded him to speak. “What do you mean you didn’t think it’d be enough?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I kept trying to get him to open his eyes, but he’d lost so much blood…” he trailed off as his mind conjured an image of Magnum surrounded by rust-colored mud. “I wasn’t even sure he <em>could</em> wake up at that point, given how much blood he’d lost.”  </p>
<p> </p>
<p>He paused and took in every detail of the his friend’s form: the paler than normal features; his arm wrapped in thick bandaging and elevated slightly on a pillow; and, most importantly, the steady cadence of his heart as evidenced by the monitor that announced every beat. “I’d just about given up on getting him to open his eyes when he spoke.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Rick’s brow furrowed at the expression of fear on his friend’s face; clearly Thomas speaking hadn’t been a positive sign. “What’d he say?” he gently prompted.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Coming, mom,” TC breathed out, the words almost physically painful for him to repeat.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Wright’s sudden inhale confirmed what Calvin had believed; Magnum had been about to leave them.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Several minutes passed as the men composed themselves, the reality of what had nearly come to pass overwhelming them both. Surprisingly, neither of them was the first to break the silence – that distinction belonged to their friend in the hospital bed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>After years of dealing with situations when he’d been injured by those meaning him harm, Thomas no longer announced his return to awareness the way most normal people did. There was no slow fluttering of the eyes, gradual tension in his muscles, or even a steady increase in his heartrate or breathing. Instead, he came awake fully and all at once, his eyes popping open to immediately assess the level of risk surrounding him. Thankfully, his friends were very familiar with his method of returning to consciousness, and they moved just as quickly as he did.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Hey, Thomas, you’re safe and everyone is fine,” Rick began as he immediately stepped to Magnum’s side.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You’re in the hospital and have had some work done, but the docs figure you’ll recover just fine,” TC added, his hands now resting on Thomas’ uninjured arm.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The words of assurance did exactly what they’d hoped, and they watched as their friend slowly processed what he’d been told and then melted back into the mattress. Rick pressed the button to slightly elevate the bed, bringing Magnum up to a more comfortable position. Thomas took advantage right away, his eyes darting down to his heavily bandaged arm.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What happened?” he asked, his voice still thin after the extreme blood loss he’d experienced.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You had a run in with a boar,” TC replied, Magnum nodding moments later as the memory returned.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Thought I was a goner,” Thomas recalled, unaware of how his words were affecting his two best friends.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Deciding not to respond to the man’s comment directly, Rick explained, “The doctors said you were lucky that TC knew what to do, plus that help arrived so quickly.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Magnum nodded, his eyelids already beginning to droop. Trying to lighten the sombre mood that had settled on the room, TC asked, “You leaving us already?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>There was something in Calvin’s tone that got Thomas’ attention, his eyes widening for several moments as he locked gazes with the man. “I’m not going anywhere, brother.” Magnum waited as relief soothed the tension from TC’s face, the man giving his forearm a short squeeze as he nodded.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Thomas took that as permission to close his eyes, falling peacefully asleep to dream of his mother’s smiling face.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Many thanks to AZGirl for proofing; all remaining mistakes are mine.</p>
<p>This story was based on the day 5 prompt: Where do you think you’re going: on the run / failed escape / rescue</p>
<p>Thanks for reading and I'd love to hear your thoughts if you're so inclined!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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